


A Lucky Mishap

by softiejace



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Library, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Artist Sirius Black, Desi James Potter, Desi Sirius Black, First Meetings, Fluff, Indian Character, Latino Character, Latino Remus Lupin, Law Student Remus Lupin, M/M, and James chilling in the background in sweatpants bc why not, or rather in trim clothes and a bun, sirius the knight in shining armour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-10 09:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11688507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softiejace/pseuds/softiejace
Summary: Of course this would be just Remus’ luck - the library printer breaking when the deadline for his term paper is coming up. And to top it off, the pretty boy he's been running into all week is there to witness his moment of misery... but maybe he can turn things around?





	A Lucky Mishap

The universe must hold a personal grudge against Remus Lupin.

There is no other explanation why now, out of all the days of the year, the printer in the uni library has decided to break – now that Remus needs to print his damn term paper that’s due tomorrow fucking morning because his goddamn prof does not accept digital copies. 

The printer, unimpressed by Remus’ glare and cursing-under-his-breath, suddenly spits out twenty something blank white pages, smeared with remnants of black ink. The papers pelt down on Remus before they spread on the floor around him, the racket causing several dozen students in the study hall to whip their heads around and stare in irritation at the skinny latino guy who’s apparently too simpleminded to use a printer. 

Remus grits his teeth, feeling the migraine start to stir again in the back of his head and low in his bones. He presses the button one last time, simply because there doesn’t seem to be anything else he can do. 

The printer doesn’t react, its screen gone blank. 

This is it, then. Tomorrow morning will mark the end of his short-lived scholastic career. He’s going to lose his sponsorship for not fulfilling the required academic achievements. He’s going to be expelled. He’s going to have to return home to the confinement of a two-bedroom house and the disappointment of his parents – 

The thought of his father’s derision – “Told you the boy wasn’t cut out to read for the bar” – makes tears shoot into his eyes and he gives the printer a hard kick. 

“Fuck!” 

“I’m sure that printer deserves your anger but you don’t want to hurt yourself.” 

Looking up, Remus swallows the retort on his tongue. 

Of course it’s him. The boy Remus must have bumped into twice this week alone despite the fact that they don’t share a single class. Which is probably for the better, if he’s honest, because that face is guaranteed to ruin his focus on any lecture, however captivating… 

The boy raises an eyebrow, amusement written into every single of his features. 

Oh, god. He hasn’t replied yet. What did he say again? What even is his name? Not that it matters – 

“Do you – err. Need help with that?” The boy clears his throat and gestures to the papers strewn around Remus’ feet. 

Remus flushes, shaking his head instinctively. “I’ve got it under control,” he says a little more harshly than intended, and hunkers down to start tidying the mess. There's no point in having his library access withdrawn. Although, when he’s been kicked out, they probably won’t let him come here anymore anyway… 

A slender brown hand holds the rest of the papers out to him and Remus stares for a moment before sighing and accepting them. 

Both of them stand up, Remus with a stack of useless dirty copies in his arms, the other boy brushing invisible dust off his immaculate black trousers and an immaculate curl of his black hair back behind his ear. 

“I take it that’s not what you wanted to print.” 

Remus huffs. So the snob considers himself a comedian. 

He raises his eyes to about an inch below the other boy’s and says curtly, “I was trying to print my term paper before this thing erupted on me.” 

Mr Pretty Boy nods. “They have fucking shitty printers here. The same thing happened to my roomie last year, that’s why he got himself a printer. Well, he made his dad buy it, but the point is – I mean, if you want, you can come back to our place and use it. If you really need to print the paper tonight.” 

Remus gapes at him. “I –“ He closes his mouth, swallows, and tries again. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m just going to go to the copy shop down the street.” 

The boy raises both perfectly drawn eyebrows now. Damnit, does everything about him have to be flawless? 

“Not that it’s any of my business, but aren’t those shops pretty expensive? Like, you’d end up paying more than for a library copy card of a whole semester.” 

Remus presses his lips together. The boy is right, of course. It’s not like Remus is looking forward to a week without lunches, but does he have another choice? Well – technically he does. 

“Sorry if I’m being intrusive,” the boy says, and he’s sounding a little insecure now. “Just thought I might be able to help…” 

It’s this little flaw that does Remus in. 

“I’ll take it,” he hears himself say. “Your offer. If it’s still standing.” 

“Really? I mean – cool. Sure.” He grins at Remus, wide and unashamed, holding out one beautiful hand. 

“My name’s Sirius, by the way.”

\- 

Sirius’ flat is on the third floor of a house in the picturesque old part of town Remus has only ever passed through on his bike. The flat itself must be as big as the Lupin’s entire house and certainly more expensive. 

Remus tries to be discrete about his staring around as he shrugs off his shoddy denim jacket, blushing when Sirius takes it from him to put it on a coat rack beside his own leather jacket. 

The flat doesn’t hold as much of the expensive extravagant furniture he was expecting. 

What it does have are paintings – abstract, oddly beautiful swirls of colour on large canvases that are leaning against walls and most other available surfaces. 

There’s music coming from a corner of the flat, too, _The Weeknd_ on full volume. 

“JAMES!” Sirius yells into the general direction. “TURN THAT DOWN! AND PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!” 

Remus can hear a muffled reply, though he can’t make out what it says. 

He wonders if James is Sirius’ boyfriend, starting to feel a little uncomfortable. 

Sirius beside him rolls his eyes and gestures for Remus to follow him into the living room. 

“SPEAK ENGLISH, I BROUGHT COMPANY!” 

The music dies down immediately and seconds later a door down the hall falls open, revealing a brown-skinned boy with shaggy dark hair and neatly trimmed beard. He appears to be Indian, like Sirius, and thankfully he is wearing clothes – gym shorts and a red jersey of some sports team. He looks Remus over, then smirks at Sirius. 

“Hi. I’m James Potter.” 

Remus takes the offered hand and shakes it. 

“Remus Lupin,” he says, a little bewildered. “I’m, uhh. Here for your printer?” 

James frowns. “Umm, did it break?” He cranes to gaze into the corridor behind Remus. 

Oh, god, he thinks I’m a mechanic, Remus realises sharply, feeling the blush rise to his face again. 

Next to him, Sirius gives an annoyed groan. “No, you shithead. Quit looking for a toolbox, our printer didn't break. The one at the library did, so I told Remus he could use ours.” 

“Oh! Right. Sorry. I’ll, uhh – does anyone want tea?” He moves past them into the kitchen. 

Before Remus can say yes or no, Sirius takes him by the hand, pulling him over to an office corner. 

In a fruitless attempt to ignore the way his skin tingles from the touch, Remus eyes the mahogany desk that’s overlooking the city through modern floor to ceiling windows, and the even more modern intelligent printer poised on it. 

He swallows. Sirius, not noticing Remus’ trepidation, presses a few buttons. 

“You got your flash drive?” 

Remus pulls out the USB drive that also serves as his mp3 player, his face feeling hot as he places the battered old thing in Sirius’ hand. 

A soft little “Ah” noise escapes Sirius as he takes it and inserts it into the printer, but instead of the patronising look Remus is prepared for, he asks, “What kind of music d’you have on that?” 

Remus blinks, thinking about the new Ed Sheeran album he ripped off the internet, and the two dozens of obscure psychedelic pop songs. Sirius on the other hand probably owns _Nirvana’s_ “Nevermind” on vinyl... 

“I, umm – this and that.” 

Sirius turns away from the printer that’s quietly working now, giving Remus the full attention of his dark-eyed stare. 

“You look like an Indie kind of guy,” he muses. 

For a moment, Remus isn’t sure if he should be offended, but then Sirius taps away at the computer behind him and “Yes I’m Changing” starts to play. 

“You know _Tame Impala_?” Remus asks, a little astonished. 

“Hey, sort of my duty as an Arts Major.” 

The paintings must be his, then. Remus barely has a chance to consider this new discovery before Sirius adds, “What’s yours, by the way?” 

“International Law.” 

Sirius whistles, seemingly as impressed as Remus is with him. 

“Holy shit.” 

They lean against the desk next to each other, listening to the music, Sirius’ hand resting just centimetres away from Remus’. 

He thinks desperately of something he can say to break the silence, and ends up blurting, “Is – uhh – you and James – he’s your –“ 

“Brother,” Sirius fills in, and Remus exhales audibly, followed by a blush. 

“Well, adoptive brother, but yeah. We’ve lived together we were like, 16.” 

Not boyfriends. Good. Unless that means he’s straight... 

“What are you planning on doing with your degree when you’re done?” Sirius asks casually. 

_When_ you’re done. Not _if_. Remus wishes he had this much confidence. 

“I want to be a human rights advocate,” he says. 

He’s stopped telling people that after he’d gotten a laugh in reply one too many times, isn’t sure why he says it now. 

But Sirius doesn’t laugh. 

“That is so fucking cool,” he says instead, and Remus looks up, startled. 

Sirius is eyeing him with admiration and interest. 

Remus feels his cheeks grow hotter yet. 

“Err – thanks,” he murmurs. 

Before he can think of anything else to say, a ping calls their attention back to the printer. 

“Well, there you go.” 

Sirius carefully hands over the pages. 

“You need a folder for that or something?” 

“I’ve got one in my bag.” 

“Right.” 

There’s a moment of awkward silence as they look at each other, Remus once again with a stack of paper in his arms. 

He clears his throat. 

“Thanks again for letting me use your printer –” 

“ - it’s no problem at all - ” 

“- how much do I owe you?” 

Sirius’ eyes go wide. “Remus. You don’t have to – look around yourself. In danger of sounding like a complete douche, do you really think I need that money?” 

Remus bites his lip. “I guess not.” 

Great, so he’s going to be in his debt. 

“If you really want to make it up to me…” Sirius starts, then breaks off. 

Remus glances up to see that his cheeks have gone faintly pink. 

Oh. 

“You could go out with me? Grab a cup of coffee sometime?“ 

_Oh._ Not straight, then. Good. _Very_ good. 

“Would – would that be alright? I just thought, well, you’re awfully cute, and you always blush when you run into me so I thought maybe… – I got it wrong, didn’t I? Shit. I’m sorry. Forget I asked–“ 

Remus’ heart seems to be beating somewhere in the proximity of his throat. 

“Coffee sounds great,” he manages to croak. 

There’s a beat of silence. 

“You – you mean it?” 

Remus nods, staring at Sirius’ collar, where his cream-white shirt stands out beautifully against his tan skin. 

There’s a tiny splatter of red paint on it. 

He follows the gorgeous line of his neck with his eyes to find that Sirius is grinning at him. 

Remus, ignoring the rush of blood into his cheeks, can’t help but grin back. 

\- 

Maybe the universe isn’t as averse to him as he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> I know everyone's been asking for a sequel to My Faithful Handyman but this just... sort of... happened so hopefully it'll make you happy as well!


End file.
